Posture counts, even when you're snoozing

Sunday, April 23, 2006

By DARRYL E. OWENS / The Orlando Sentinel

Stress, depression and physical ailments such as acid reflux are among the myriad disrupters that can impair a good night's sleep. Of late, some health-care practitioners have suggested that the secret to claiming your 40 winks may rest in something about which your mother used to harp: Good posture. Specifically, good sleep posture.

"The goal is to place the spine and its curves in as close to a natural position as possible to afford a structurally stress-free period of rest," says Michael Wiles, dean of the chiropractic program at Northwestern Health Sciences University in Bloomington, Minn. "If you suffer with back pain and your pain is made worse by extended periods of structurally stressful posture, then you'll naturally awaken with pain in the night or early morning.

"Proper posture, or at least an attempt to position yourself in a pain-free, stress-free posture, is very important whether or not you suffer from back problems," Mr. Wiles adds.

Though some debate the notion that one can "choose" a sleep posture, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, a trade association of British physiotherapists, recently published a guide focusing on increasing the quality and quantity of sleep through posture.

"Sound, restful sleep is essential for well-being," says Sammy Margo, a London physiotherapist and spokesman for the trade group in a news release about the guide. "Many people don't realize that the posture we adopt when sleeping, or the type of mattress and pillows we use, could have implications on the overall quality of sleep we will receive."

If you're not sleeping well, and medical and chemical causes (late-night caffeine binges, for instance) have been ruled out, some say that your sleep posture could be the culprit.

The physiotherapist's guide points out that people adopt one of four sleeping positions, or postures: lying on the right side, left side, back or stomach.

Stomach-sleepers may endure the most strain, says Jason Marchetti, a physician with the Texas Back Institute in Plano, because "theoretically, we believe that stomach lying may increase back pain" by exerting pressure on certain joints in the back of the spine.

The optimal sleep posture in which to baby your body is "essentially the fetal position, on your side with your knees drawn up," Mr. Wiles says. That posture, he says, supports the natural and normal spinal curves of the body.

Of course, when it comes to sleep, where you start isn't necessarily where you finish.

One solution to keep you in place: sleep props, such as pillows to support your body and help muscles and ligaments relax as you settle into your preferred position.

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TIPS FOR BETTER SLEEP

If you favor sleeping on your side, place pillows between your knees to support the hips and place another under your side to support your back, according to a guide published by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy.

Stomach-sleepers, the guide recommends, should place a pillow under the chest to help keep the neck straight, "not bending too far forward or back."

For back sleepers, a small pillow placed under the back can help support "the natural curve of the spine" in that region and reduce backaches, says Michael Wiles of Northwestern Health Sciences University.

Chiropractors frown on using large pillows, which they say are bad for the spine. Stacking pillows also isn't a good idea because additional height can strain the neck.

Having a mattress that provides lower-back support is important, says Dr. Michael Hisey, an orthopedic surgeon with Texas Back Institute: "Check the firmness of your mattress. When reclining, your spine shouldn't curve. If your mattress is too soft, your midsection will sink too far; if it is too firm, your shoulders and hips will not sink far enough.